The original title of this work was "This Black Cloud Over My Head Just Won't Go Away," but it had to be shortened due to the character limit.

It was no question that Spring was having difficulty sleeping. Waking up in the middle of the night in screams, possibly disturbing her nearby neighbours. But, it was also no question what the cause of it was. Her night terrors were of the day she died, dying old and alone, no one finding her rotten corpse in her home until the bank mortgaged it out to someone.

She didn't want that to be the case, but with every new dawn, it seemed to grow more apparent. She was surrounded by bunches of happy people, from her co-workers, to her friends. She'd gotten to know quite a few of Fredrick's friends better, such as Bonnie, Chica, Foxworth, Tony, and a few others. Though, she constantly thought about her best friend: Alfred.

It was no secret she loved him; in fact, practically everyone knew. But, no one ever acknowledged it, especially him. He never really spoke to her, now that she thought about it. She could respect that decision, however. He had a girlfriend that he loved, and Spring was a lesser part of his life, and she knew that. Though, she felt that self-awareness only made it sting more. He was the one person she wanted to care about her.

They'd known each other for five years. She didn't feel entitled to his acknowledgement per say, but she felt she should make it a point to get herself recognised. However, she never wanted to intrude, and he was getting married soon. The last time they'd talked was two years ago on his nineteenth birthday.

"Two years ago," Spring whispered to herself. "Two fucking years, and not a word has passed between us. How can we even be called 'friends,' anymore? He's probably changed so much. I hear he's become more snarky, as of late. I don't know how true that is, but that's what Fredrick tells me."

She remembered a time when they'd go on for hours into the night, talking about each other's problems, and trying to provide solutions. And, just when she thought she'd built up the courage to ask him out, she realised he was interested in someone else. That shattered her confidence for a long time, and she hurt herself for being so stupid.

She burned her skin with ropes, cut it with a knife, and even went to far as to try and overdose herself. All that happened was that she threw up a little, and coughed up a bit of blood. She remembered how stupid she'd been about being so hard on herself, but she'd allowed herself to trust someone with every little detail about herself, and she felt it was the wrong person. She knew he wasn't terrible, as he hadn't known that Spring had held such an affection for him, but it should've been obvious. She was at the end of her ropes at that point in time and was more than ready to go through with killing herself. But, she never did.

She looked over at her phone on the nightstand. She'd make it her goal of tomorrow to call him, and maybe catch up a bit. After all, two years is a long time to go without talking to one another. But, she was afraid. Afraid of who he'd become, what he'd say, and whether she'd be heard or not. It wasn't a matter of calling him, it was a matter of whether he would listen and respond civilly. Hell, that didn't even come until he picked up.

She had tried the phone call on more than one occasion, just a year gone. He didn't pick up once, nor did he ever call or text back, he'd gone completely away from her. She missed him.

"Where are you now?" she whispered to herself. "What are you doing? When will I see you again? Will you ever come back?"

These questions floated throughout her mind, and never stopped manifesting themselves. She couldn't stop thinking about the "what-ifs" of the situation. She could barely handle her own thoughts, at this point. She wanted to pick up now and call him, but it was almost midnight, and he was probably asleep.

Her phone began to vibrate, and she picked it up. Why now? Why was he calling now? She picked up and heard him on the phone, sounding sickly, tired, and almost as if he were in tears.

"D-did I wake you?" he stuttered. He was careful around his words, knowing how easily he could shatter the girl on the other side of the phone.

"No. I never sleep, anymore. What's up?" she asked shyly and quietly.

"The marriage is off," Alfred said sulkily. "She played with my emotions, again."

Spring wanted to cry herself, hearing that her best friend had just come out of a second abusive relationship. It was hard to hear, but she had to bear it.

"I-I'm so sorry..." she whispered.

"I-it's not your fault," Alfred told her. "Can— Can I come over?"

Spring thought for a moment. She hadn't talked to him in years, and he wanted to make his way over for help. He'd come out of a second abusive relationship with the same girl as the first, which was beyond her imagining. She thought he'd learned his lesson the first time. "Feel free," she told him. She hung up, and wanted to slap herself.

This game would replay itself time and time again. He'd go out with her, get dumped, come for her for help, and repeat. Spring didn't know if she could continue handling the emotions she felt around him. Especially when he was so close to her grasp.

She felt like a cat pawing at a toy that she'd never quite grasp, and would forever dangle just out of reach. It destroyed any self-confidence she had when she found out he was with someone else.

It wasn't long before there was a knock at her door, and she slowly made it up to answer it. Upon opening, Alfred threw his arms around her, and she slowly hugged him back.

"I'm so sorry for what happened," Spring told him quietly.

"Again, it's not your fault," Alfred whispered back. "I should've known this shit would happen because it already happened once. I'm such a fucking idiot."

"You're not, Alfred. Sure, you didn't learn the first time, but that doesn't mean you're a complete idiot. You were blinded by the feelings you'd had previously, and just how much you wondered how things could've been different."

She slowly guided him to the sofa, where she sat him down and they began to talk a bit more in-depth, face-to-face.

"Now, elaborate on what happened in the beginning," Spring told him.

"Okay, well, I guess," Alfred said, trying to remember, "it started around six months after the first breakup. I was still in that half-recovery, half-over-it stage. I wasn't totally ready to let go, but I basically had. Makes me wonder if she knew where I was because I got a text. It was from her, apologising for dropping me off like that, and also saying she wanted to make it up to me."

"Were you suspicious of her?" Spring asked.

"Not particularly," Alfred replied, "but very slightly. What happened that night was, we went out to see a movie, and I thought we'd just leave it there, but after everything was over, and we were leaving, she stopped me and kissed me. The thought of the fact that she just kissed me under the moonlight sent memories of the nights we spent together before running through my head. I began to cry."

"Do you think she noticed this?"

"Of course she did. She pulled away, only to kiss me again. She knew full well what I was thinking about, and she was trying to get those memories to spark something again. In hindsight, I probably should've noticed how she was manipulating me, but to me then, it was as if she was just trying to amend things. I wanted it so badly to be real."

"And things just sort of went from there?"

"Yeah, basically. We had a couple more dates, and one night we managed to get really drunk, and ended up having sex once we were home. Regrettable, to say the absolute least."

"Well, it's over now. And now you know all she wants to do is fuck with your emotions, make you think that she loves you, but in truth, she just wants things from you."

"It's sad to me that it took me two tries to understand that. If she tries to pull this shit again, I'll see right through her lies," Alfred stated. "If she's smart, she'll fuck right off."

"Have you realised anything else since that time?" Spring asked. "I mean, it brought you to such an important realisation, surely you must've realised some other things, as well, correct?"

"Not really," Alfred replied, "I mean, I made amends with my brother, because I had been ignoring him for her, but I still need to make amends with so many other people. You, included. So, I'll say it right now: I'm sorry. I'm honestly so sorry that I wasn't there for you, I wasn't the friend that I needed to be, and I should've known what I was doing."

"Well, that's not really what I meant, but I still accept your apology," Spring said.

"What did you mean, then?" Alfred asked.

"I dunno, I mean like— have you noticed anyone else who would want to be with you, besides Maggie? I mean, she never really wanted to be with you, but you get what I mean, I imagine."

"Yeah. I haven't seen that, because I've just been trying to cope."

Spring sighed, wondering if she made her point obvious enough without blatantly stating it.

"Well, I'm here, whenever you realise it," she said, hunching over.

"Wait, what?" Alfred said with realisation. "Shit, I–I didn't know, I–I'm sorry…."

"No need to be. It's my fault and my fault alone, and I should've told you sooner, but I just didn't want to intrude on your life. I figured you were so happy, not having to listen to a depressed little shit rattle on for hours about how she lost her parents for the millionth goddamn time. Only difference being, you were dating her."

"Look, Spring, I'd never get tired of that. If it makes you feel better, I'll keep listening. You matter so much to me. Though I'm not quite ready to jump into a new relationship, but maybe we'll work something out."

"I think it's better if you just found who you wanted. Yeah, I'm interested in you, but I want you to go with who you want most. Don't just love me because I love you, that'd be unfulfilling for the both of us. You do show immense care for me, but for you to dedicate yourself to me because of that care, that'd just make you miserable in the long run. Then, with you feeling that way, I'd be caught in a situation where I'd have to give you your freedom, leaving me by myself once again."

"I understand your perspective, but I feel like— like we could still make everything work. In truth, I'd honestly much rather be with you than her. I just hadn't thought about it very deeply, having just wanted to impress her at the time. But since this whole situation has been brought to light, I think we'd work together."

"If you say so," Spring sighed. "I don't know how you'd even consider me with how attached I can get. You'll feel joined at the hip with me, and want to get away in no time. I guarantee this. It won't even be a year that we last."

"I know it's hard, but please be optimistic about it all," Alfred pleaded. "I need some positivity now more than ever. Even if things don't work out, I swear to you, I'll never leave you alone again."

"Fine. When everything calms down, we'll give it a try," Spring said at last. "I'll give it my all, but I have every right to say I told you so if things don't work out."

Alfred chuckled quietly before replying, "Alright."

2,061 words

This one took quite a while to write, even if it isn't that long or that interesting. Hell, I don't even quite know if I'm happy with it. Either way, here it is!